Associate Director, Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices

American University; Washington; Hybrid; USD 78,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

American University seeks an Associate Director for the Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices (OSARP) in Washington, DC. The role leads disciplinary processes, designs restorative programs, and trains Conduct Council members to ensure fair, equitable outcomes and an inclusive campus climate.

The position emphasizes leadership in hearing administration, staff development, and crisis management, with 35 hours per week in a hybrid on-campus work arrangement.

Qualifications

• Master's degree required.
• 4–6 years of relevant experience.
• Knowledge of student development theory, the law, and higher education.

Responsibilities

• Hearing officer/hearing administrator for the university’s disciplinary process, including complex conference cases.
• Design, develop, implement, and evaluate restorative practices to support campus climate.
• Coordinate recruitment, selection, and training of the Conduct Council; provide staff development.
• Serve in crisis management roles, including after-hours consultative support for student incidents.
• Supervise and support the Senior Coordinator and staff; align programs with division priorities.

Skills

Disciplinary hearings

Restorative practices

Training & development

Crisis management

Education

Master's degree

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

American University is a student-centered research institutionlocated in Washington, DC, with highly-ranked schools and colleges,internationally-renowned faculty, and a reputation for creatingmeaningful change in the world. Learn more about American University

Department:

Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices

Time Type:

Full time

Job Type:

Regular

FLSA Status:

Exempt

Work Modality:

Hybrid 01 (On Campus 3-4 Days/Week)

Union:

Excluded

Job Description:

Summary:

The Office of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices(OSARP) administers the student disciplinary system, which resolvesalleged violations of the Student Conduct Code by an student orstudent organization. The Associate Director works with the Associate Dean of Studentsand Director of Student Accountability and Restorative Practices toadminister and implement the university’s non-academic studentdisciplinary system by ensuring due process and fairness to allparties. The Associate Director assumes responsibilities of theoffice in the Director’s absence and serves as the primarycoordinator/intake officer for student conduct services utilizingrestorative practices. The Associate Director manages complexhearings and disciplinary conferences as a hearing administratorand conference officer including for student organizations. TheAssociate Director is responsible for the recruitment, selectionand training of the university’s Conduct Council. The AssociateDirector is also responsible for conducting presentations andtrainings on the conduct system with campus partners. This positionalso has a significant role in providing leadership addressingstudent situations surrounding equity and inclusion issues andpositively affecting the climate on campus. The Associate Directorsupervises the Senior Coordinator of the Office of StudentAccountability and Restorative Practices. The Associate Directorwill be tasked with additional responsibilities that supportdivisional priorities and objectives.

Essential Functions:

• 1.) Hearing Officer/Hearing Administrator
  • The Associate Director administers the disciplinary process forthe university’s non-academic alleged violations. Approximately600+ cases are resolved yearly. The Associate Director serves as adisciplinary conference officer for the most complex conferencecases. Serves as the hearing and appeal administrator fordisciplinary hearings, including communicating with students,parents, attorneys, and other third parties by educating them aboutprocedures and processes as well as policies. Maintainsrelationships with various university departments regardingdisciplinary matters. Ensures due process and fairness of sanctionsand upholds all university policies and laws regardingconfidentiality and student privacy. Assumes the responsibilitiesof the office in the absence of the director.
• 2.) Restorative Practices
  • The Associate Director is responsible for the design,development, implementation, and evaluation of restorativepractices as an alternative to the student conduct process. TheAssociate Director provides education about restorative practicesto the campus community. The Associate Director develops materialsto train staff or faculty in restorative facilitation, in additionto leading ongoing professional development. The Associate Directoris responsible for the continued development and growth ofrestorative practices within the student conduct process. Thisposition works directly with campus colleagues to positively affectcampus climate, build student resiliency, and ultimately be a moreinclusive campus.
• 3.) Training and Development
  • The Associate Director acts as the primary coordinator fortraining and presentations with campus partners. The AssociateDirector is directly responsible for the recruitment, selection,and training of the university’s Conduct Council, a group ofstudents, staff and faculty, who serve on hearing panels. TheAssociate Director develops positive working relations amongstudents, faculty, and staff to help promote the services of theoffice. The Associate Director works closely with Housing &Residence Life staff to provide education, training andprofessional development to professional and paraprofessional staffabout student conduct.
• 4.) Student Case Management/Crisis Management
  • The Associate Director serves in consultative role whenappropriate for community incidents which cause harm and arepossible restorative circles. The Associate Director serves in anon-call rotation system to address student crisis outside ofbusiness hours.
• 5.) Supervision and Administration
  • The Associate Director is responsible for the training,supervision and continued professional development for the SeniorCoordinator, OSARP, a full-time professional staff member position,including but not limited to the administration of performancereviews, development and oversight of individual goals, and regularsupervisory meetings. The Associate Director may supervise graduatestudents and student staff as necessary. Support major division anduniversity-wide programs, including but not limited to,Commencement, Family Weekend, Summer Send-Offs, Move-In, NewStudent Orientation, Family and Supporters Orientation, StudentAchievement Awards, and Eagles at Night. As a member of theDivision of Student Affairs, this position may advise recognizedstudent organizations as needed. Serves as a member of the Divisionof Student Affairs Response Team assisting with campus activismmanagement.

Supervisory Responsibility:

• Supervises the Senior Coordinator, Office of StudentAccountability and Restorative Practices, a full-time staffposition. May supervise graduate students and student staff asnecessary.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work:

• Full-time.
• 35 hours per week.

Salary Range:

• $77,750 - $80,000 annually.

Required Education and Experience:

• Master's degree.
• 4 - 6 years of relevant experience.
• Must have knowledge of student development theory and itsapplication, the law and higher education.
• Must have knowledge of restorative practices and itsimplementation into campus adjudication processes.

Preferred Education and Experience:

• 5 - 8 years of relevant experience.

Additional Eligibility Qualifications:

• Inclusive Excellence: An ability to welcome, value, and affirmindividuals of all identities and experiences, and a commitment toensure they are understood, appreciated, and fully included in theuniversity community.
• Discretion, Tact and Diplomacy: Ability to exercise discretion,tact and diplomacy while interacting with students, faculty,university staff, management, internship employers and otherstakeholders on confidential and/or sensitive matters.
• Interpersonal Skills: Ability to related well to and developand maintain effective relationships with people from variedbackgrounds and situations; demonstrate understanding, concern andempathy for others; effectively relate to people who are displayinghostility or distress; and respond appropriately to the needs andfeelings of different people in different situations.
• Organizational Skills: Ability to organize, carefully prepare,and review one’s own work to ensure completeness and accuracy;clarify and juggle competing priorities, expectations andtimelines; manage time effectively; set up procedures to ensurehigh quality of work and adherence to deadlines; follow up withothers to ensure that agreements and commitments have beenfulfilled; and to adapt organizational methods to the pace anddemands of work to maintain consistent quality andeffectiveness.
• Advanced Communication: Ability to express oneself clearly andconcisely, using language with precision; constructing logicalarguments; accurate note taking, editing and summarizing; andwriting reports or correspondence free of spelling and grammaticalerrors. Ability to engage in active and empathetic listening andcommunicate with a service minded orientation.
• Diagnostic Information Gathering: Ability to seek out relevantpeople to obtain information; probe skillfully to get at the factswhen others are reluctant to disclose the full details; askclarifying questions; and gain a complete and accurate picture bychecking multiple sources.
• Standard Office Software: Skill using email, word processing,spreadsheet/ data analysis and presentation development softwareapplications such as Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPointwhile preparing briefings, reports, and presentations.

Other Duties:

• Please note this job description is not designed to cover orcontain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties orresponsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any timewith or without notice.

Benefits

AU offers a competitive benefits package. Click here to learn about American University's unique benefitoptions .

Other Details

• Hiring offers for this position are contingent on successful completion of a background check.
• Employees in staff positions at American University must deliver their services to the university from either the Districtof Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia, or perform work on-site at theuniversity.
• Please note this job announcement is not designed to cover orcontain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties orresponsibilities that are required of the employee for this job.Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any timewith or without notice.
• American University is an E-Verify employer.

Current American University Employees

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Contact Us

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American University is an equal opportunity, affirmative actioninstitution that operates in compliance with applicable laws andregulations. The university does not discriminate on the basis ofrace, color, national origin, religion, sex (including pregnancy),age, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, personalappearance, gender identity and expression, familyresponsibilities, political affiliation, source of income, veteranstatus, an individual’s genetic information or any other basesunder federal or local laws (collectively "Protected Bases") in itsprograms and activities.